Each year hundreds of school children are taken on tours which allow them to enjoy this part of their heritage .

Tours often start at the Heritage Education Centre, high up in the attics of the old Parktown Convent (now Holy Family College). Two classrooms furnished as for the year the school opened, 1905 give the pupils a chance to experience the joys of dip-pens, blotting paper and inkwells. Stereoscopes replace the modern teaching aids , while the cane and dunce's cap remind them that their great-grandparents endured much stricter discipline than prevails today.

The school museum allows us to expand on other aspects of early schooling: boarding school, Imperial measures, the strong religious training in the convent, as well the selfless dedication of the sisters of the Holy Family.

School tours are customised to suit the teacher and the field of study.

Sponsored tours are available to disadvantaged schools on request when we have the funds.

Bring your children (grades 4-6) out of the classroom and into our educational time machine for 4 hours!
Travel back 100 years and join us for a morning in a beautiful Edwardian school in Parktown, Johannesburg. Learn about the discovery and mining of gold, the lifeblood of our city Egoli. Slip pinafores and sailor suits over contemporary uniforms and have a history lesson in a 1905 attic classroom, complete with inkwells, dip pens, reading charts, dunces’ caps and cursive writing!
Touch and be touched by magnificent architecture and interiors. Have explained and experience the rationale behind the school’s turning circle at a time when transport was primarily by carriage or by donkey-cart.
Cement the day into personal history by decorating and threading a take-home folder for the worksheets.

The School Experience takes place at Holy Family College, 40 Oxford Road Parktown. Learners must bring pencils to complete their worksheets and a packed lunch.

This action-packed walk begins at the gracious mansion, Northwards, once home to the charismatic Jose Dale Lace and subsequently the legendary Albu family. This Baker mansion with its exquisite period furnishings provides a backdrop for romantic and captivating tales. It also explains just how large a staff was necessary to maintain the home and the lifestyle. The enchanting gardens offer a seldom seen panorama of Johannesburg!
Learners then wend their way down Rockridge Road, a Jacaranda lined showcase of Sir Herbert Baker’s architectural talents and passion for South Africa. They will hear of the Anglo-Boer South African War, some of its personalities and the beautiful Baker homes they lived in. After a stop at Baker’s very own home, The Stonehouse with its hallmark shingled roof, it’s on to St Margaret’s and Pilrig. The tour is completed by the humble majesty of St George’s church, where the children will hear the tale of St George and the dragon, be awed by the magnificent pipe organ and on seeing the Belfry and ropes will delight in hearing that bell ringing is indeed still in fashion in Parktown on Sundays and special occasions!
The tour is tribute to craftsmanship and the work of man’s hands which Baker homes exemplify.

Learners must bring pens or pencils so that they can complete the worksheets which are provided as well as their lunches and something to drink.